Antonio Davis

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ANTONIO DAVIS - PAGE 5

Antonio Davis has not reported to the Knicks' training camp since he returned to Chicago a week ago, and the feeling in New York is he won't be coming soon--probably not at all. The Bulls sent Davis to New York in the Eddy Curry trade last week, but he returned to the Chicago area to be with his family while his mother-in-law had a scheduled surgery. New York coach Larry Brown has said the trade devastated Davis. Before it was announced, Davis, 37, said he was looking forward to finishing his career with the Bulls.

The wife of New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis, whose verbal altercation with Chicago Bulls fans last month prompted her husband to go into the stands, was released on bond Thursday after being charged with misdemeanor battery for an incident in which she was accused of flinging a hot cup of coffee on another woman during a traffic altercation in Naperville. An arrest warrant was issued Thursday morning for Kendra Davis, 31, of Naperville on misdemeanor charges of battery and driving on a suspended license.

The anticipated homecoming for the Knicks' Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis turned into a bizarre and chilling scene Wednesday night at the United Center when Davis charged into the fans' seating area during a timeout in overtime to confront a fan apparently having an altercation with some of Davis' family members. The incident cast a shadow on the Bulls' thrilling 106-104 victory, won with Ben Gordon's buzzer-beating 21-foot jump shot. "I witnessed my wife [Kendra] being threatened by a man I later learned was intoxicated," Davis said in a statement after the game.

Names carry weight, and conjure up images. Muffy means money, Samson means strength, Jethro means country and Moon, Chastity and Cherokee mean your parents came out of the '60s. The Bench is another name that presents a portrait as well and it is as simplistic as those pictures created by connecting the dots. Small guys replace small guys, big guys replace big guys and they all do this as part of a set rotation. But in these Eastern Conference finals, the portrait accurately reflects only The Bench of the Indiana Pacers.

One of the Bulls' major concerns entering this chest-to-chest Eastern Conference final against Indiana was the Pacers' renowned bench strength, featuring Antonio Davis, Jalen Rose, Derrick McKey and Travis Best. Sunday, the Indiana reserves managed to outscore the Bulls' bench 30-19, yet the Bulls managed to win the game 85-79 at the United Center. The Bulls' trump card turned out to be forward Dennis Rodman, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds. More significantly, Rodman, who didn't start, sparked a dormant team that shot only 27 percent in the first half and appeared destined to slip into an even deeper abyss.

Home court had to do with more than noise. The Indiana Pacers understood that Friday night, six games into an Eastern Conference final they hoped to push to one more game. Pumping up the volume would only get them so far. The Pacers understood the need for a presence that was missing in Game 5, an assertive attention to detail from baseline to baseline and matchup to matchup. From the easy baskets they watched the Bulls collect Wednesday, to the absence of picks, to the need for help against the postup moves of Michael Jordan, the Pacers had prepared for Game 6 by watching and discussing their failures.

The Bulls' three-headed monster was not scary enough Saturday afternoon. Sure, the Bulls came up big on the boards, outrebounding the Pacers 40-29. But the Bulls' front line didn't contribute much offensively and failed to control the offensive combination of Antonio Davis (10 points) and Rik Smits (12) as Indiana prevailed 107-105 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Market Square Arena. It wasn't for lack of effort. Dennis Rodman fouled out and Luc Longley was hit with five personals.

Ben Gordon finally showed the fourth-quarter flair that rescued the Bulls countless times last season. As a rookie Gordon had 21 double-digit fourth quarters. In Wednesday night's 106-104 overtime victory against the Knicks, Gordon scored 13 of his season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter and sank a 22-foot jump shot at the buzzer to win it. Last Saturday, Gordon's late-game heroics fell short at the buzzer in a loss to Indiana. Officials had to review his final shot several times before determining it came too late.

Bulls' early foul trouble By the end of the first quarter, four Bulls, including two centers, had two fouls apiece, newcomer Lawrence Funderburke had been inserted in the lineup and the Wizards had attempted 13 free throws to two for the Bulls. Still the Bulls trailed just 26-24 after one. Gordon-Hughes shootout Bulls rookie Ben Gordon and Washington guard Larry Hughes put on a clinic in the second quarter. Gordon was 5 of 7 and Hughes was 6 of 6 to keep the game tight.

Antonio Davis is on the way back to Chicago. Not to the Bulls, though. Not yet, anyway. Davis, who was part of the still-pending sign-and-trade deal that sent Eddy Curry to the Knicks, returned to Chicago Thursday from the Knicks' training camp to be with his family because his mother-in-law is scheduled for surgery. "Because he was not allowed to practice [with the trade still pending physical tests for Curry] and he is familiar with coach [Larry Brown's] stuff, we thought it was appropriate he visit [home]